I
Monday, Aug®
x less (price must
ig personal po^;
If item doesn't sf
to qualify fordiei
:ancelled early,
:lp wanted
Manager ,
living, inventory ar-.;
3t. This job is sp.J
% mental sharpness ;
i- Full time only
' productivity tw
979-731-1358
)TORCYCLE
>n. 1995 Yamat
mi. S3200, (903)«1(.>
PETS
Brazos Animi:
vw.shelterpets.or;
ichshund, Blacs Ti
Shots, $250. Camij
70.
white tabbies, frs
rained. $15.82(KK
ick Russell Ten
S300 call 693-W
lie has a great seen
or adoption! 9794
OM MATES
Kommates for 35 It
Large backyard
ibills. 695-7778.
spring. 2bdrrTV1tr.'
lat Deal. $40(Vm:;
1550.
2bth new house, t-1
lills, 2-blocks fronts
RICHARD BRAY
ites needed. 4ttr.
n, all appliances
i/mo. +1/4 bills. 69
needed, 4bdrnvi7
ills. 817-219-6143
needed, Stxtr
nished, walk to a
II. (979)575-2439
iw 2-story duple*
iwn bath. Fenced
shuttle route, £
in 8/30, can negc
ay. Ashley 764-43 1 !
police must be
rustworthy
here are some positions in
which we must hold indi
viduals to higher stan-
|dards. For example, we have
higher expectations of our polit
ical leaders than we do individ-
iials who frequent daytime talk
ihows. We also expect more from our police officers than we
o from our typical college student. In upholding Matthew
ollins’ firing from the Bryan Police Department last week,
lark Sherman, a professional arbitrator with the American
rbitration Association, made it clear society requires higher
tandards from police officers at a time when police are los
ing the citizens’ trust.
According to / he Eagle, Collins was indefinitely suspended
y Bryan Police Chief Ken Burton in September after an
ugust incident at the Crooked Path Ale House in which
ollins was asked to leave but refused. Even after police
arrived, Collins remained belligerent and was issued a crimi
nal trespass warning. Worse, Collins is accused of lying about
he incident during an internal affairs investigation conducted
y the Bryan Police Department.
According to The Eagle, Collins’ attorney, Paul Aman, said
germination was not necessary and a lengthy suspension
/ould have been a more suitable punishment. However, this
iew refuses to acknowledge the power Collins can wield as a
nernber of the Bryan Police Department. This community has
ligh standards for the individuals who patrol their streets, and
einstating Collins would have lowered those standards.
Citizens today have enough difficulty trusting police with-
>ut having individuals such as Collins amongst their numbers,
n Hearne, for instance, the Robertson County National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People organ
ized a public forum last week to discuss race relations
between black Hearne residents and the Hearne Police
Department. The forum stemmed from recent allegations that
a black man was beaten by white police officers in Hearne on
July 12. According to The Eagle, residents expressed concern
ided, new 3/2/2, s
■net, $375Ano.
1)383-8524.
ap
)pliances, Noi
deposit, cable
ease. University
about the police department and some offered firsthand expe
riences of poor race relations with the local police.
Distrust such as this can result in serious consequences. In
Cincinnati last year, citizens rioted after a Cincinnati Police
Officer shot an unarmed black youth in the back, one of sev
eral instances of a white police officer shooting a black sus-
3-8550.
pect in Cincinnati. While this is an extreme response to many
years of racial tension, the issue remains — the community
4bdrm/4biM§nwst be able to trust its officers. Charges'of lying during an
internal investigation make it impossible for a community to
believe an officer during other investigations and proceedings.
Such distrust is a liability to a police department which
searches for the truth in various matters every day.
Possible racism is not the only issue in which public dis
trust of the police has become an issue. According to the
Houston Chronicle, one of the reasons Houston Police
Department union officials oppose a new policy requiring offi
cers to collect phone numbers on traffic stops is because the
people already distrust police, and the policy might harm this
already strained relationship.
While Collins’ actions may not have been deserving of ter
mination in another form of employment, the position of a
police officer demands trustworthiness and honor. If individuals
such as Collins are unable to live up to such lofty ideals, they
must be replaced by those who will. Police officers are simply
in too important a position in this community for anything less.
■eded ASAP.
se, 1-mi from ti'
. Emily 979-695-i/
led. 2/1 duplex Sif
luttle route, 1/26*
e needed Sbrlm
irnished, very ntt
io+1/3 utilities, t
157, 220-0567.
3 needed for
h, Cripple Cree 1
needed. LooM
No smoking/6’'
5/mo., includes 16
m/2bth house,
hbills. 694-1538_
ded. 4bdrm/26tf
Sublease $$
■214-0329.
! house! $306/®';
Richard Bray is a senior
journalism major.
MAIL CALL
eparate garage
ded. House, - -
;325/mo. iw spots for SUVs
it was recently announced
mat parking rates are going up
m the parking garages to on
t „. mcrease security and safety
$3': among other things.
i have a very simple safety
u 8gestion that would cost the
apartment of Parking, Traffic
And Transportation Services
TTTS) nothing. As a driver of a
Passenger car, there is always a
aeling of unease backing out
r?fiT)844-2996 rorn between a pickup and a
large SUV. why not require pas-
huitjebus,^ sen S er cars to park on one side
56.
yard, 9 ara ^’,.
1 bedroom,
680-1811-
3-bedroom
$350/mo.
of the ramps and larger vehicles
to park on the other? Since
there are probably more larger
vehicles (unfortunately for the
environment), have them park
the outside walls (since
there are more spaces) and pas
senger vehicles park on the
inside spaces. Visitors would
have no problem determining
inside from outside since the
walls have slots to the outside.
This would cost very little (an
occasional enforcement drive by
a PITS officer) and would pre
vent fender benders.
John H. Wormuth
s) T.oca.
Y0# SURE
m IS jv
ROCKET IT- i
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5 • Monday, August 5, 2002
Questionable reasoning
U.S. removes money from fund fighting overpopulation
L ast week, the U.S. Department of State
announced that $34 million appropriated by
Congress for donation to the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) would not be
donated and would instead be diverted to the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID).
The UNFPA’s purpose is to teach family planning in countries
around the globe to help control growth of the world population
and to help fight the spread of AIDS. The United States was one
of the founders of the fund, but since 1986 has been sporadic in
its support. This latest move, however, has drawn heavy criticism
from the U.N. and leaders of the European Union.
The Bush Administration has enacted the Kemp-Kasten
amendment to deny the Congressional appropriation, even
though a three man fact-finding trip in the State Department
made an official recommendation to Secretary of State Colin
Powell that the funds not be withheld. The Bush administration
has defended the move by saying the UNFPA sponsors programs
in the People’s Republic of China, and that China coerces many
of its women into having abortions.
MICHAEL WHITLOW
Thoraya Obaid, executive director for the UNFPA,
predicts the money the United States withdrew would
have prevented 800,000 induced abortions.
Additionally, the executive director of the UNFPA
has estimated the $34 million would also have been
enough to prevent 2 million unwanted pregnancies,
nearly 5,000 maternal deaths, 60,000 cases of maternal illness
and nearly 80,000 child deaths.
This is before one even reaches the question of HIV/AIDS. In
a country projected to have 10 million citizens infected with
AIDS by the year 2010, sex education and family planning is part
of the necessary fight against the AIDS epidemic U.N. experts
project will claim 70 million lives by the year 2022.
That the administration is diverting the funds to one of it’s
own agencies does not indemnify it. USAID currently has popu
lation assistance programs in only 60 countries, compared to the
UNFPA's 140. USAID is also involved in environmental initia
tives, information technology abroad and disaster assistance.
While these and other causes USAID is involved with are noble,
such diversity of purpose requires a lot of administrative effort.
The rationale says Chinese government levies a
fine on families with more than one child in order
to compel citizens to comply with the government’s
one child policy. Women, not wanting to pay the
fine, are likely to have abortions. Therefore, the fines amount to a
“coercive” effort by Chinese authorities towards abortions. The
rationale continues by saying the UNFPA, through working in
counties where these fines are levied, contributes to this effort by
virtue of working alongside government authorities.
The holes in this logic are too numerous to count, and, in light
of many of America’s domestic and foreign policies, it is very
hypocritical. First and foremost, the idea of a fine is no more than
punishment for going against a government policy. Yet, in using
everything from speeding tickets to prison sentences, America
depends upon the threat of punishment to prevent unwanted
social behavior. In China’s case, the fines are meant as a deterrent
to getting pregnant to begin with, not as encouragement to have
an abortion after the fact. The subtle distinction here is easily
abided by with the aid of the family planning services the
UNFPA offers, such as the education of and supplying of birth
control methods.
China, faced with a significant portion of the world’s popula
tion and abysmally high population density, is struggling to con
tain the growth of its population before the economy and
resources collapse under the strain. While no one, especially the
UNFPA, supports coercive abortions, there are other options
available for managing population growth. The UNFPA has
already stated it does not support coercive abortion tactics and
has threatened to withdraw money and personnel from any area
where they perceive these tactics being employed.
The Chinese government has repeatedly acknowledged the
benefit of the UNFPA’s work and requires county offices to post
notices stating it is illegal to prevent any births or conduct preg
nancy tests on unmarried young women. Since the UNFPA began
working in China in 1998, it has found no evidence of coerced
abortions in any of the 32 counties in which it has programs. The
UNFPA’s presence may be all that prevents coercive tactics from
being employed. Cutting the UNFPA’s funding to the point they
are forced to withdraw would be counter-productive.
The UNFPA is only concerned with popula
tion control. It is only natural that if the
United States shares this interest with the
UnitedNations, the two should consolidate efforts, not draw apart
as the United States has done. In the post-9/11 war on terrorism,
the United States has expected a lot of help from its neighbors.
This move does not demonstrate the same spirit of cooperation.
Furthermore, the state department’s own fact finders recom
mendation that the administration not withhold the funds shows
the government is not basing its decision on the facts reported by
its own investigators. Because the word abortion keeps popping
up, one must wonder whether this is nothing more than a nod to
conservative interest groups. The state department and the United
Nation’s own people cannot offer any evidence of coerced abor
tions. However, the administration refuses to offer any justifica
tion for its decision beyond this. It is more likely the conservative
administration is refusing to participate out of a simple opposi
tion to family planning services.
The issue of human rights abuses in China is by no means a
small one, but there are better ways to take a stance on it than
refusing aid to a humanitarian organization. The UNFPA’s pur
pose in promoting family planning and controlling population
growth has long-lasting impacts upon the environment and the
AIDS epidemic that is now a global threat. Whatever one’s ideo
logical objections are to sex education, it is necessary to fight the
spread of HIV, and abortion is a family-planning option.
The worst thing about this decision is that it is doomed to fail
to accomplish its stated objectives. China’s largest problem is the
growth of its population. If organizations like UNFPA are not
allowed to educate people about healthy, safe family planning
options and make these options available to governments facing
population crises, we are giving those governments no alternative
to forced abortions and sterilizations to solve their problem.
Unless we cease to perpetuate this vicious catch-22 in the name
of conservative ideology, innocent people will continue to suffer.
Michael Whitlow is a senior
English major.
React to child, not the crime
(U-WIRE) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
— In today's world criminal children have
become the focus of a lot of media atten
tion, whether or not there has been an
actual rise in crimes committed by
youths. We hear about children shooting
up schools, children committing assault.
We are shocked and hurt when we see
children, America's most treasured
resource, betraying us by acting like the
hardened criminals our society is already
rife with. Many people seem to react by
crying out for these kids to be locked up
and put away, far from the view of more
"civilized" society so that they no longer
are a problem.
How do we get "problem" children as
far away from us as possible? By taking
them out of the juvenile courts and put
ting them into a justice system designed
for adults. Taking children out of juve
nile court has got to be one of the
biggest miscarriages of justice currently
practiced in America today.
How can a child be expected to
become a better person and learn from
their crime when they are tried and sen
tenced as an adult? They are still learn
ing, their values have not fully developed
and, in many cases, the child suffers
from abuse or poverty and, when placed
in a better situation, can grow to be a
perfectly normal individual.
Prosecutors do not look to what might
have caused such behavior. Instead, they
take a "tough on crime" attitude and
throw the child into adult court, where he
or she will have little chance of actually
being rehabilitated or helped in any way.
Maybe that is why we have begun to
turn to another method of "curing" our
violent youth. We put them to death. The
U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a sen
tence of death for persons as young as 16
is not "cruel and unusual." More than
160 children under the age of 18 have
been sentenced to death since 1973.
What this boils down to is fear. We
are afraid of these killer children and
what they represent in our society. What
makes a 10-year-old pull out a gun and
shoot? There are two options: either
Americans spawn some of the most vio
lent children in the world, or the world
they are growing up in is teaching them
it is okay to act this way.
It is the responsibility of the parents,
the justice system and society as a whole
to work together to help a generation of
troubled kids become better people. We
must learn to react to the child and not to
the crime, because if we disregard the
welfare of our youth in such a manner
justice will never be properly served to
those who need it the most — kids.
Andrea Staargaard is a columnist for
the Daily Collegian.